A Novel Reason to Kill
by stamper55555
Summary: The Mystery Writer's Conference in New York City is already interesting, what with both Thom E. Gemcity and Richard Castle attending. Then a case comes up, and the convention turns into a place holding not only writers, but suspects and possible victims.
1. To New York

**A/N:** This fic is going to be kind of boring in this chapter, but please don't give up on it! It will get better, I promise. I just wanted to establish a bit of the case, and then next chapter I will jump right into it! So, here you go!

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Detective," Castle greeted as he ducked under the crime scene tape, a cup of coffee in each hand.<p>

Beckett took her coffee and immediately started to explain the situation. "The call came in to dispatch an hour ago, a neighbor saying that he was hearing some strange noises coming from here. After a few minutes, he saw a figure exit the house, get into a car and speed away."

They crossed the house's threshold and entered a war zone. There was broken glass and blood everywhere, cracked picture frames on the walls with strands of hair in them, overturned furniture.

Lanie was waiting for them when they walked into the living room. "The victim's name is Curtis Windley; it looks like he was beaten to death. We won't know COD for sure until we get him onto a table."

"All right. Once CSU's are done here, he's all yours."

"I don't know about that, Kate."

"What do you mean?" Castle asked.

"Curtis Windley is a petty officer for the Navy."

Kate sighed. "Ryan?" she called. "I need you to make a call."

"Sure. Who?"

"NCIS."

* * *

><p>"Morning, Ziva," Tony said as he walked into the bullpen and dropped his backpack unceremoniously onto the floor by his desk.<p>

"Do you think you are funny, Tony?" Ziva demanded.

"Actually, yeah, I do," he answered before her tone registered. Once it did, he asked cautiously, "Why?"

"Because you super glued my mouse to my desk, and I can not do a thing on the computer!"

"And you think I did it?"

"Who else would have?"

"Okay, let me see it," he said, deciding to help her find out who actually did it before she hurt him in any way. As he inspected it closely, his face lit up in admiration. "This is genius! They super glued the mouse to the mouse pad and the mouse pad to the desk! Oh, man!" After seeing Ziva's unamused expression, his enthusiasm washed away. "But I didn't do it!" he insisted. "I already pulled the superglue-on-computer-equipment prank. I wouldn't do the same thing twice. Besides, I just got here, and I left before you last night. Remember? I had to go with Abby to that concert. So it couldn't have been me."

"If you are lying to me, Tony…"

"Ziva, I'm not lying; I swear. It was someone else."

McGee walked in then, in an obviously good mood. "Good morning."

The two agents exchanged glances, suspicious of Tim's chipper attitude. They walked over to his desk and stood over him, arms crossed.

"McGee, is there something you would like to say to me?" Ziva asked.

"Like what?"

"An apology would be nice."

"Rule 6," he said smugly. "Besides, what would I have to apologize for?"

"Someone super glued my mouse to my desk."

"Do you know anything about that, McGee?" Tony asked. "I mean, we could dust for prints, I guess…"

"You are not denying it," Ziva observed. "Did. You–"

She was interrupted by Gibbs' presence in the bullpen. "Gear up."

"Where to, Boss?" Tony asked.

"You're not going anywhere. McGee, Ziva, you're going to need your overnight bags. Dead petty officer in New York."

"Boss, that's not fair!" Tony whined, still holding his bag.

"Haven't I ever told you that life isn't fair, DiNozzo?"

"Well, yeah, Boss. Almost every day. But–"

"But what? You know the rules: we need an agent here at headquarters."

Tony sighed. "I know." Then inspiration came to him. "Why doesn't Ziva stay?"

"She _is _the probie," McGee spoke up.

"I have said this before: I have been working here for five years! I am _not _a probie!" Ziva argued.

"And yet, technically, you are," Tony pointed out. "Come on, Boss. You made me do it when I was a probie, and McGee, and I bet Franks made you do it, too. Right?"

Tim, seeing that Gibbs was starting to cave, added, "She's never had to be NCIS agent in charge before, Boss, because she wasn't an agent then."

"If I agree to this, will the two of you shut up?"

They both nodded.

"Fine. Ziva, you're staying here. You could use the experience. DiNozzo, go pack. And pack _light._ You don't need your whole closet."

"On it, Boss." The two men made their way to the elevator.

"Wait!" Ziva called. "I cannot use my computer without a mouse!"

Gibbs shrugged. "Use McGee's."

"No, Ziva, don't–"

The elevator doors shut then, cutting him off.

* * *

><p>"NCIS?" Castle asked.<p>

"I thought you were the expert on all things law enforcement," Beckett teased. "It stands for Naval Criminal–"

"Investigative Service," Castle finished. "I know what it stands for, Beckett. I've just never gotten to work with them. Do you think they'll have a cool screen like Agent Shaw?"

She rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. _I hope not._ "I don't know, Castle, but we'll find out in a few hours."

He looked at his watch and his smile faded.

"What's wrong?"

"I told Alexis I'd pick her up from school so we could go out to lunch. Tomorrow's her birthday, and I've got a week-long Mystery Writer's Conference that starts tomorrow, and the first day is an all-day event. So I told her we'd take today and act like it's her birthday."

"Then what are you doing here, annoying me?" Kate joked.

"She had a history test that she didn't want to miss," he answered with a shrug. "And besides," he added with a trademark Castle grin, "it's fun to annoy you."

She rolled her eyes again and said, "Well, try to keep it to a minimum. We need to get to work. This case is technically their jurisdiction, but maybe if we find something they'll let us assist."

"What? You mean they can just take this case away from us?" Castle was appalled.

"Yes. And from what I hear about the guy they're sending, it sounds like he won't hesitate to do it. Which is why we need to start now. Ryan, Esposito!"

"What do you need, Beckett?" Ryan asked.

"Whatever you can find, as soon as you find it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yay! My first ever Castle/NCIS crossover... Actually, my first ever Castle fic at all! And I'm so inspired, I don't think it will take me long to update again! My cousin is hounding on me to update one of my other fics, Games, but after I work on that one for a little bit I'll come right back to A Novel Reason to Kill.


	2. Three Hours

**A/N:** Yay! Chapter 2 is up! It's just a filler, sorry, but it gets more interesting in chapter 3, I promise.

* * *

><p>Tony and McGee took their own cars home to get their things. Gibbs took the team car back to his house and told his two agents that he would pick them up soon, and to be ready by the time he got there.<p>

When Tim reached his house, he remembered he was already packed. He had scheduled a week long vacation starting the next day in New York. _Guess I'm not going to get a week of relaxation,_ he thought bitterly to himself. He grabbed his suitcase and took it downstairs to wait, calling Gibbs to tell him to come pick him up first. He figured Tony would appreciate the extra time to get all of his things together. Besides, Tim would enjoy riding shotgun for a change.

"So I guess I lose my week off in New York, don't I, Boss?" McGee asked on the way to pick up Tony, disappointment evident in his voice.

Gibbs had forgotten about his agent's plans, though he realized now that he should have remembered when Tim said he was ready so quickly. "No, McGee. You can have your vacation. You deserve it. After tonight, the week's yours."

Tim smiled, surprised. "Thanks, Boss!"

"Yeah, yeah. But today, you're _mine._"

"Understood."

Tony wasn't quite as happy when he heard the news.

"What?"

"Tony, I already requested off."

"Boss, we can't solve this case with half a team!"

"DiNozzo, we don't have just half a team. We have Ziva in DC. And I've heard good things about this team of NYPD detectives. They don't mess around."

"Besides, Tony," Tim added, still trying to make his colleague listen to him, "I'll still be in New York if you guys need me."

Tony crossed his arms, realizing that he'd lost the fight before he'd even opened his mouth. "What's so important that you've got to abandon us right at the start of the case, McPlans?"

Gibbs flicked a glance to the right, curious as well. All Tim had said was that he was going to New York City for the week, and was using some of his vacation time; he hadn't said why.

McGee looked away before he mumbled, "A writing conference."

"A… Are you _kidding _me?" Tony demanded.

Gibbs glared at him for a few seconds in the rear view mirror – long enough for McGee to yelp, "Gibbs!" to get his boss's eyes back onto the road – and then asked, "Is it important to you, Tim?"

"Um… Yeah, Boss. It is."

"Then go. Have fun. We can handle the case."

* * *

><p>Back at the Twelfth, Beckett's team was trying to "handle" the case, too.<p>

"What do you mean, we've found nothing yet?" Beckett demanded. Castle had left about a half an hour ago, but even without his inappropriate wisecracks and crazy theories, her patience was wearing thin.

"Beckett," Ryan said in a patient tone, "Lanie can't start the autopsy until they get here, and we don't know what we're looking for yet. We know he's got a brother in the city – probably the reason he was in New York, because he was stationed in Norfolk– and his parents live just outside of Philadelphia."

Esposito spoke up. "But we can't question them, because it's not our case. Beckett, our hands are legally tied."

Beckett sighed and turned to the practically empty murder board before looking at her watch. Just three more hours…

* * *

><p>Ziva sat in the bullpen, glancing at her computer screen briefly before being distracted by the emptiness, the quiet, of the bullpen, trying to understand why they had to blaze – no, <em>haze <em>– her. She'd been working with them for years – _years_! – and now they were making her sit by herself for the duration of the case. She sighed, and repeated the process a few times.

Finally, before she had focused enough to find anything on the victim (Gibbs had gotten a call from the detective in New York, and had called her to look into things), her desk phone rang. She jumped at the chance for human interaction, not even thinking that it could be Gibbs calling for a lead until after she'd said, "Hello?"

Luckily, it wasn't him.

_"Hi, Ziva!"_ Abby greeted.

Ziva smiled. "Hello, Abby. I have not found anything yet, if that is why you are calling."

_"What? No, that's not why… Well, kind of. I was actually just calling to say, if it's getting too lonely up there all by yourself… Well, I'm all by myself down here. And I'm swimming in evidence, and I thought, maybe, you might want to come down and hang out with me while I work, and maybe I could help you…"_

Ziva had to laugh at her friend's ramblings. "I would love the company. I will be down in a few minutes."

_"Great! See you then!"_

Ziva was smiling as she hung up the phone, feeling much better now that she wouldn't be left to her wandering thoughts. Now, when Gibbs called, she would have a better chance of having something, now that she had someone to work with. And, yes, she knew that she would have to help Abby with her other cases to get some help in return. Even so, she would be able to focus more in the crowded, loud lab than in the silent, vacant squadroom, worrying about her team, who were two hundred miles away from her protection.

As odd as it sounded, Ziva was counting on Abby to distract her from all of her distractions keeping her from work that could get her team home safe as soon as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** See? Just filler. And that last bit isn't important at all, but I don't want anyone to forget about Ziva and Abby. And sorry if Ziva is kind of OOC. I know that when she came here she was a cold, always focused, antisocial killer, but now I think it might make sense that, after all they've been through together, she's a little protective and worrisome. Sorry again if you don't agree. Hey, here's an idea: you can review and let me know, so I don't have to guess! Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me!


End file.
